Observing that India will take a decision as a sovereign country on how it votes on the issue of referring Iran to the United Nations Security Council, the United States has said that it was closely engaged with New Delhi on concerns regarding Tehran's nuclear programme.
India, US discuss Iran nuclear crisis
"India will decide as a sovereign country and will make a decision - its own decision - on how it votes on the (Iran) issue at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna on Thursday," State Department acting spokesman Adam Ereli said on Monday.
"We have been engaged with them closely and in a productive way about our shared concerns over Iran's nuclear programme," he added.
Ereli's remarks came as Left parties asked the Union government to have David C Mulford recalled while Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party sought an all-party meet over the controversial remarks by the US Ambassador to India on the Iran issue and the US-India civilian nuclear cooperation.
Accusing Mulford of directly interfering in India's internal affairs, senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India leaders said it was 'unbecoming' of the Ambassador to comment on domestic affairs of India. Expressing serious concern over the American envoy's remarks on Iran vote and Indo-US nuclear deal, the BJP asked the Centre to take all political parties into confidence on Indo-US ties by calling an all-party meeting.
Complete Coverage: The Iran Vote
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